If you happen to be a guest in my home, I will not serve anything that has hit the ground, so please don't despair!
Life's too short to go around replacing things that have fallen on the floor for mere moments.

I believe someone on tv proved that certian foods were ok under 5 seconds as bacteria doesnt have time to latch onto the food that could cause someone to get sick.
With my brother, its more like a 5 day rule, he doesn't care. Long as nothing is sticking to it like noticable...

At work and one of my co-workers came up behind me and startled me and I dropped a peice of bubble gum on the floor. I picked it up really quick, kissed it and popped it in my mouth - he said "damn that was quick" my reply - it was less then five seconds.